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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Not too long ago, I was looking up some information about
an item that I was going to put up for sale on Etsy. While looking around, I found some fun
tidbits about the year 1900. Here’s some
of the things that I found:

On March 15th, the Gold Standard Act is
ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard. The United States printed the words “Gold
Certificate” on them, and these notes are highly collected today.

On June 25th, The Daoist monk Wang Yuanlu
discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great
historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China. These manuscripts include works ranging from the
Buddhist religion to history and mathematics to folk songs and dance.

On November 3rd, The first Auto show in the
United States opens at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

What kind of fun facts have you run across when
you are looking for more information on an item?

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

These small decorated bowls were popular in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries.

They were produced in various types of glass like satin,
spatter, spangle, silver overlay, and much, much more. One color that is seen is cranberry, which is
the color on this fantastic example made by Fenton.

They are usually spherical with an incurved, crimped rim;
but they can also show up egg shaped or even ovid. There is also a ton of manufacturers that
made rose bowls as well, and Fenton has quite a few examples themselves.

You can see this fantastic Fenton rose bowl in my Etsy
shop here. Wouldn’t one of these make a
great gift?

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Glassware that was distributed at a very low cost (or
even free) during the Great Depression is one of today’s hottest collectibles.Numerous patterns were manufactured by
numerous glass companies.Colors added a
bit of beauty to an otherwise drab era—pinks, reds, blues, and even greens were
sought after.

Books outlining their current cost and listing the prices
offered in a certain pattern by a certain company such as Anchor Hocking are
available online or in a bookstore.Favorite and highly collectible patterns include Princess, Manhattan,
Avocado, Doric, Miss America, English Hobnail—even Christmas Candy.

My own grandmother treasured her green Princess sugar and
creamer.You can see all of the great
Depression glass goodies in my Etsy shop here.Do you have family favorites?

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Directions play a part in quite a few different ways in
life, including in collecting paper money from the early 1800’s. During this time, it was up to the banks to
produce paper money (they would file for a charter with the United States
government, and this would allow the bank to produce their own paper money).

Collectors often look for paper money in a couple of ways
for their collections. They will look
for a certain bank, city, or even state that the money was produced in.

If there was a major metropolitan area, the more banks
were likely to be there. The east coast area
has quite a few different banks that offered paper money. This was true to just past the Mississippi
river. The farther west you went, the
fewer banks you would run into. The gold
rush in California that started in 1848 was what helped bring some banks (and
eventually a United States mint in San Francisco) that far west.

Even up north in places like North Dakota, Washington
State, and even Alaska have very few banks at all. There have been a few bills (collectors also
call them “notes”) to turn up for a few banks in these states, and are highly
sought after.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

The use of kerosene was a major breakthrough in lighting
fuels, and replaced whale oil. It became
the main source of light for homes during the latter half of the 19th
century and for remote locations until the 1950’s. Beautiful examples can still be found at
auctions and sales—although rarer examples and brightly colored lamps can be
pricey.

I recently came across a wonderful Smith Brothers lamp
(made by the Mt. Washington Glass Company) with a stork standing in grass
against a pale pink background.

It was made in the late 19th century and still
very beautiful.

Do you have a family lamp treasure, or ones that you have
found at a sale?